Transhumance: the return of Trekking in the Alps to the Alps

Well it proved to be very difficult to make the move back from Provence to the Alps last weekend. We have fallen in love with our winter home and we left idyllic sunny early summer conditions to arrive in the Alps in extremely cold pouring rain, with the snow level heading steadily down towards our house! The cat couldn't understand why we'd returned. Nor could we really.

Bee orchid

Goodbye to the vultures for now but we'll be back

And the olive trees

But then the rain stopped, the sun came out and it all became clear. Provence has given us 6 months of wonderful weather and scenery and we'll be back in the autumn, but it will soon be too hot there and the vegetation will lose its splendour. Time to rediscover the joys of the Alps and they are certainly plentiful.

The alpenrose is just flowering at valley level

Hiking near Le Tour with the very snowy Argentière peaks as background

I am lucky to have a fabulous small group of regulars this week, here to launch my new book Chamonix Mountain Adventures. So we're enjoying some beautiful and exciting walks in the Chamonix Valley region. The conditions are excellent, with really hot temps and clear skies. The spring flowers are in bloom and above 2500m the mountains are still glistening from the latest top up of fresh snow. 

Near the Tête de Balme with the Aiguilles Rouges behind

Our first peak on the first day - 2 more were to follow.

More on this trip at the end of the week. Get Chamonix Mountain Adventures from Cicerone Press or (better) directly from me, signed.